Bitcoin Timeline

The blockchain timeline From inception to maturity

31 October 2008 Satoshi Nakamoto introduces bitcoin and blockchain in a white paper

2008 3 January 2009 The first bitcoin transactions – the ‘Genesis Block’ – are mined [2]

2009 12 January 2009 The first bitcoin transaction takes place (between Hal Finney and Satoshi Nakamoto)

31 October 2009 The first bitcoin exchange, the Bitcoin Market, is established [4]

2011 March 2013 Market capitalisation of bitcoin reaches $1bn [7]

2013 June 2013 The first major virtual currency theft: 25,000 bitcoin stolen from Bitcoin Forum founder’s wallet [8] February 2014 HMRC in the UK classifies bitcoin as private money: VAT will not be charged on the mining or exchange of bitcoin. Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is hacked [10]

April 2015 NASDAQ begins a blockchain trial [12]

[3]

22 May 2010 Bitcoins are used to make a purchase for the first time: two pizzas were bought for 10,000 bitcoin ($25 at the time, approx $46m at Nov ’17) [5]

2010 9 February 2011 Bitcoin exchange value reaches parity with the US dollar [6]

[1]

December 2013 Vitalik Buterin introduces Ethereum and smart contracts in a white paper. China’s central bank bars financial institutions from handling bitcoin [9]

2014 July 2014 The Ethereum Project is launched via crowdfunding as the first smart contract

[11]

2015 September 2015 Blockchain tech company R3 is founded by a consortium of financial institutions including Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and RBS [13]

December 2015 The Linux Foundation establishes the Hyperledger Project [14]

2016

May 2016 The DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) sets a crowdfunding record by raising more than $150m investment (11.5m ethers) [15]

2017

January 2017 Seven major european banks announce Digital Trade Chain, a partnership to offer a trade finance platform via blockchain [17]

June 2016 The DAO loses a third of its ethers – approx $50m – in a vulnerability attack [16]

April 2017 Virtual currencies are officially recognised in Japan [18]

July 2017 Bitcoin exchange Bitthumb is hacked

[19]

August 2017 The number of bitcoins in circulation reaches 16.5m [20] January 2018 Switzerland to begin accepting tax payments in bitcoin [21]

2018

References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

http://nakamotoinstitute.org/bitcoin/ https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block https://blockexplorer.com https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_Market https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Pizza https://blockchain.info/charts/market-price https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Category:History https://www.theguardian.com/technology /2014/mar/18/history-of-bitcoin-hacks-alternative-currency 9. http://www.the-blockchain.com/docs/Ethereum_white_ paper-a_next_generation_smart_contract_and_decentral ized_application_platform-vitalik-buterin.pdf

10. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hmrc-re-classify-bitcoin-private-money-1432718 https://www.wired.com/2014/03/bitcoin-exchange/ 11. http://ethdocs.org/en/latest/introduction/history-of-ethereum.html 12. https://www.coindesk.com/nasdaq-becomes-latest-firm-totrial-blockchain-technology/ 13. https://www.r3.com/about/ 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperledger 15. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/the-dao-raisesmore-than-million-in-world-s-largest-crowdfunding-to-date-1463422191 16. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/18/business/dealbook/hackermay-have-removed-more-than-50-million-from-experimental-cyber currency-project.html

17. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/7-major-european-banksform-blockchain-platform-digital-trade-chain 18. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/29/bitcoin-exchangesofficially-recognized-by-japan.html 19. http://uk.businessinsider.com/south-korean-bitcoin-exchange-bithumbhacked-ethereum-2017-7?r=US&IR=T 20. https://blockchain.info/charts/total-bitcoins 21. https://news.bitcoin.com/chiasso-switzerland-to-allowcitizens-to-pay-taxes-in-bitcoin

© 2017 Grant Thornton International Ltd. All rights reserved.